Chelsea are reportedly set to grant Diego Costa his wish of moving to China in a sensational £90m move, after they’ve agreed a deal for Alvaro Morata.
Costa has managed just three goals in his last 10 appearances for Chelsea, a run which started after he was dropped for the game at Leicester City following speculation of interest from China which in turn resulted in reports of a bust-up with Antonio Conte.
While it may well be a mere coincidence, others will argue that his form has dipped after being distracted by talk of a big-money offer from China which has seemingly been put on hold until the summer.
According to The Express, Tianjin Quanjian still have the Spaniard in their sights as their top transfer priority, and will be ready to splash out the £90m transfer fee being demanded while also offering a £30m-a-year contract.
The issue has been that Chelsea don’t wish to sell him, not least because Conte’s side are still pushing to secure the Premier League title this season and losing Costa in January would have been a crushing blow.
However, the report goes on to claim that the £50m signing of Morata would give the Blues the flexibility to then move Costa on and make a significant profit having a replacement already in place.
Morata reportedly wants to leave Real Madrid this summer as he has been limited this season having not been Zinedine Zidane’s first choice up front. In turn, combined with the fact that Conte signed him at Juventus before leaving the same summer and thus missing out on the chance to work with him, this could be the second chance that the pair have been waiting for.